


What You See

by carcinoGeneticist



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Depression, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-06
Updated: 2013-04-10
Packaged: 2017-12-07 14:59:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/749834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carcinoGeneticist/pseuds/carcinoGeneticist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karkat is an orphan. He has a volg. See the vlogs as a partial recap of previous chapters, but like everyone else, there are somethings that he may not want to talk about.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Boy With the Camera

**Author's Note:**

> My first Homestuck.

The camera switches on to show a teenage boy. His hair is scruffy and white. His skin is pale. His piercing red eyes are being towed down by various bags and what appears to be a bruise. He throws his hand in his hair revealing various slits on his wrists.

“Hey... um... My name is Karkat Vantas. I’m fifteen years old, and this is my vlog... I don’t exactly know what I’m attempting to accomplish here, but I was told by many people that the best way to deal with my problems is to talk about them... In short, I don’t have a lot of friends and I don’t trust any of my ex-family members to take my problems seriously... So, I... Fuck... um... I’ve been judged all my life, so whatever shit you have to throw at me... go ahead... I don’t really know why I’m such a fuck up... Shit! I assume no one knows what I’m talking about... Let me start by giving a pretty brief synopsis of my life... I am an orphan... I have multiple foster families. I’ve been adopted multiple times, and then given back.”

He backs away from the camera to show a large white room. A steel bunk bed, much like those found in a prison, sits in the far corner. One single painting that holds a detailed picture of dying flowers in a vase is pushed into the shadows of the room. Everything else looks like that of an older hipster, far from the character on the screen.

“This is my room at Sunny Ville Orphanage. I share it with-” he points at his bruised eye, “my abusive room mate, Eri- you know what? If any of them see this, they’ll probably fucking kill me, so let’s use code names... My room mate, caligulasAquarium. He doesn’t like me very much. Flooding me with words like ‘useless’ and ‘wworthless’ really- Oh! He has this really weird speech impediment, in which he sounds as though he’s doubling all of his w’s and all of his v’s sound like w’s... The reason I’m here is because mommy is in prison and daddy is dead,” he stops as though he’s about to cry before taking a deep breath and going on.

As he proceeds, his voice is just above a whisper, “I was five. I just came home from school and my parents were fighting again. It was normal for them though. I went to my room as always, and the yelling, breaking, and cursing continued for a few hours before I heard three loud pops... then... there was silence... Despite myself, I ran out into the living room where the fight was happening. My mom was shaking with tears running down her face... and a gun in her hand...” He stopped again.

A single tear just barely escapes his eye before he quickly wipes it away and continuing, “My father was on the other side of the room, bleeding heavily with three bullet wounds in his chest. He was still smiling at me when I ran over to him and grabbed his hand...” He takes another shaky breath. “He told me that everything would be alright before he closed his eyes forever.”

A loud booming voice calls out to the boy. He turns around, then turns back to the camera with a look of dread.

“Shit- um... I have to go. I’ll upload this when I get back with whatever it is I have to do. Thanks to those for watching.”

The camera goes black, and the boy with the white hair rushes out of the door.


	2. Seeing New Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens during the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finding out a little bit more about what Karkat is dealing with.

The boy practically ran down the stairs and toward the annoyed voice. The identity of the owner was unmistakable. 

He hopped over the last step and took in the image infront of him. The room was well lit and carried various pictures of happy children. White tile floors reflected the appearances of its users. The receptionist, Ms. Dolorosa, was typing away at her computer behind a very large red oak desk in the far cornor. She smiled at the boy with the same motherly intent that all Virgos seemed to carry. The tall boy in the center of the room had been the one to call out his name.

"There you are! Wwhat the fuck is wrong wwith you, wwasting my fuckin time like that?!" The older boy yells. 

His hair is a deep brown aside from the single blonde streak running up the center of of his faux-hawk. Before his best friend, Sollux, had died in a car crash, the two had made fun of him for his hair. His black jeans, which were three sizes too small, were sagging to almost his upper thigh even though he wore a checkered belt. He was in another tank top and jacket with sleeves he cut off him self. The wife-beater was black, while the jacket was some off the wrack nock-off and was a bright shade of purple. The taller boy brandished an over sized pair of hipster glasses that sat on the bridge of his freckled nose.

This boy's name was Eridan Ampora.

"I'vve got somethin to tell you Kar. Accordin to Ms. Spider-Bitch, wwe're changin schools," he said calmly. "She told me to tell you."

The albino boy simply nods, understanding the "Spider Bitch" reference. Eridan was talking about Ms. Marquise Spinneret Mindfang. She was the house master, though she didn't do a too terrific job. It was rumored that she hated children. Ms. Mindfang had two daughters one, Vriska Serket, was a rebellious girl aged somewhere between Eridan and Karkat, and Aranea Serket. She was driving the car that Sollux died in. After the death of her favored daughter, she started to focus on solitude, and started a study of he dead daughters two favorite things: spiders and pirates.

Karkat turned on his heels and gingerly skipped up the stairs. A new school was a new start. A new school was a new opportunity, and he sure as fuck wasn't going to screw it up. Concidering that they day was Sunday, and Eridan had a habit of being late, the school exchange would most likely start tomorrow. 

The sound of tears drew Karkat from his current excitement. One of the house maids, Ms. Deciple, was comforting a crying girl. Her hair was short and dyed red. Her tear soaked face was covered in more freckles that Eridan. A pair of red pointed glasses were folded neatly next to a walking stick on the bed. Was she blind? Karkat didn't put it past him. 

He cautiously entered the room and Ms. Deciple smiled at him reassuringly. 

He opened his mouth, "Uh... hello?"

The girl perked her head up. It looked as though she was sniffing the air. Her tear soaked eyes shown an extreme damage, but were a pale, broken shade of teal. 

"W-who's there?" She asked. Her voice was a bit edgy, even in its faultering state.

Ms. Deciple stood and quietly walked out of the room, closing the door carefully behind her.

"I'm Karkat. Are you new here?" He asked quietly. He knows how hard it can be on the first day.

She nods, "Yeah, my name is Terezi. Um... this may sound weird but, where are you?"

Karkat grabbed a box of tissues off of the table and sat next to her carefully.

"Right next to you now."

She chuckled. "So, if you don't mind me asking, what'r you in for?"

"Um... my parents tried to kill each other."

Terezi gasped and immediately through her hand over her mouth.

"The successor, is in prison."

"Ohmigod! I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have asked," she shoved out in one breath.

"No, no. It's cool. It is what it is. Why are you here?" 

She sighed, "There was a house fire. My parents died. Luckily, Latula and I made it out, but the amount of smoke caused her some lung problems, but it took my eyesight."

"Who's Latula?"

"Oh! She's my sister. She was only visiting from England, and she couldn't take me with her. Not yet, at least. But, we still keep in touch."

The albino boy was feeling a little worse about himself for thinking he had it worst. This girl, from the sound of it, came from a loving home. 

Terezi broke the silence, "So, I heard we're all starting at a new school tomorrow."

Karkat smiled. So it was tomorrow. 

"Um, yeah. I think so."

He glanced at the clock that she had plugged in on her nightstand. In bright LED red, 10:27 broadcast its light.

The blind girl yawned before turning in what she felt was Karkat's adjacent direction. She pulled him into a hug for a bit before standing.

"If it is so late, we should probably be getting to bed. Night Karkles," she yawned. 

"Night Terezi," he said as he stood.

He was stopped at the door way, "My last name is Pyrope, by the way."

"Vantas," he smirked.

Walking back in his room, he was greeted by Eridan passed out on the top bunk of the bed. Karkat silently slipped out of his jeans and climbed into the bottom bunk. Tomorrow was going to be good.


	3. The Blonde Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat's first day at his new school

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all of the awesome attention for this!

The buzzing racked through Karkat's body in the most uncomfortable ways he thought possible. He slid his arm out of the warm confides of his blanket-cocoon to stop the insufferable noise.

"Wwake up little fuck up! Time for your dumb ass to get your edu-macation," Eridan barks.

The albino just delivers a sigh.

"Coming from the person that stiil pronounces education like an ignorant prick," Karkat muttered.

The self-obsorbed hipster either didn't hear the remark, or was to tired to do anything about it. The older of the two walked out of the room with a towel. Karkat was luchy enough to have showered before making his video, because everyone knew just how long Mr. Ampora could spend in the bathroom.

"Alright," he began, "Things are gonna be different this time."

At his last school, the bullies were relentless. Anything that Eridan didn't bruise, was cut by those boys. He was gonna stand up for himself, he was gonna care about his appearence, and that started with his hair.

He made sure that he would have enough time for this. He grabbed the box of deep red hair dye off out of his dresser drawer, and ran into the kitchen. Quickly skimming the directions, he rinsed his hair and applied the dye to the tips of his white hair. He would have to leave it in for an hour in order for it to take full effect on his white tresses, thus turning it red not pink. 

He looked in the mirror before lightly touching his black eye. That wasn't prohibited by Karkat's laws of looking presentable. He ran back up stairs before anyone could see what he was doing to his hair, and into his room. Digging through his closet, he found a small black bag with his trademark candy-apple red cancer symbol blazen in the front. He quickly opened it and dumped the contents on his and Eridan's dresser: various peircings, a bottle of foundation that was 'only used for emergencies,' and a stick of black eye liner. The boy quickly rubbed a small amount of the concealing cream over his black eye. Luckily, it worked like a charm. All that was left to edit on his face was his eyes. The red was nice, but he liked it to stand out with even more contrast. He scraped a few layers of the sludge onto each eye, top and bottom. Now, he needed to find which holes he wanted filled.  
He filled the first three holes on each ear with a black stud. After placing on final black diamond in his nose, he had thirty minutes left and had to get dressed.

Eridan was still in the shower.

Karkat opened his closet and pulled out a torn pair of black skinny jeans, a well-fitting Pierce the Veil tee shirt, and a red and black stripped hoodie. He pulled on the clothing and threw on some black suspenders for good measure. 

After checking the time again, he had fifteen minutes before everyone else woke up for school. Hell, he did everyone a favor by waking up the hipster asshole an hour and a half early. Plus, it was gonna be worth it once his hair was done. 

He sorted out a pair of black socks to go under his black and red lace-up boots and pulled both on. Once all laces were tied, suspenders were tightened, and eyeliner was reapplied, his hour was up.

Karkat ran back downstairs and carefully rinsed the red out of his hair. When he checked the near by mirror, his hair came out exactly like he had wanted it to: A definite line in which white turned to red on all of his tips. He looked pretty damn good if he did say so himself. After a bit of flipping, everything was set the way he wanted it.

A low whistle brought the albino out of his self acceptance.

"Wwell, wwell, wwell, so that wwould be wwhy you wwoke us up an hour early?" The brunette said. 

He was dripping wet and was clad in only a towel. He circled Karkat. Though he was a bit of an asshole 99% of the time, he had his moments. Eridan reached a hand up to ruffle the white and red hair, Karkat gave a half hearted growl and swiped at the foreign hand away. 

"I like it. It suits you," Ampora complimented.

"I like it too," yawned Terezi.

"Wait, how the fuck can you tell what I did?" The question was accusational. 

Terezi simply pointed at her nose before grinning at the half naked boy.

"Wwell, I'm goin to get dressed noww."

 

After all breakfast had been eaten and the three high schoolers were lovingly shocked outside, they approached the bus stop near the orphanage for the new school. Every girl in the area began to approach Eridan and Karkat. Terezi was standing over by the fence. A girl with long navy blue hair shoved various curious girls out of the way, and drug the two boys over to where Terezi was standing.

"Heeeeeeeey! I'm Vriska Serket," she hissed out. "You must be the new kids, Terezi Mc Blindpants, Emo Karkles, and Eri-don't!"

Terezi simply smiled, Eridan scoffed and walked toward some of the prepiest bitches Karkat had ever seen, and Karkat's glare was enough to have Vriska cowering away from him.

He stood on the curb and ran through his thoughts, until he was distracted by another whistle. He turned to become face to face with a blonde haired boy with douche bag glasses, a girl, who could have been his sister, a dork with buck teeth and a girl with various colored strings on her fingers. 

Karkat felt his heart faulter at the blonde.


	4. The School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Further intros and more of my ships. ((No jadexjohn. They're just lonely.))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry. I said I was going to upload this yesterday, but I got slammed with so much homework, I didn't get to it. Here you guys go though. I made this chapter pretty long though.  
> Plus! Archive of our own is being a douch, so there are two pesterlog things that aren't spaced correctly. I even went in and reset it twice, so I'm sorry.

The boy with the buck teeth immediately ran up to the emo boy and extended a hand.

"Hi! You must be new here! I'm John Egbert it's nice to meet you!" he chirped out.

Karkat cautiously took "John's" hand and gave it a firm shake, "Karkat. Karkat Vantas."

The blonde haired boy approached Karkat next, "Car-Cat? As in Beep-Beep-Meow?"

The feelings of a crush were extinguished with hate. The blonde boy meet every required criteria of a total douche nut. His hair was a bright shade of blonde, but not anywhere near to Karkat's.

"Actually, it's spelt with K's K-A-R-K-A-T."

The boy adjusted his aviators, "What kind of father would name his kid that?"

Karkat scoffed at the comment before turning away muttering, "A dead one."

The girl that looked like John's sister seemed shocked, "Wait, 'dead?' Are you serious?!"

Karkat turned around once again to face the group, "Yes. Dead. He was killed by my mother who is now in prison, not that it's any of your business."

The girl began to cry into John's shoulder. The blonde boy placed a hand on Karkat's shoulder and a volt of electricity ran through Karkat. The other boy must have felt it as well, because he immediately retracted.

"Dude, I'm so sorry. I had no idea. It's just something that I do to test people," his tone was extremely apologetic, almost as though it hit some type of nerve.

"No, it's fine. How could I expect anyone to know about me when I just transferred here."

"Yo Vant-ass," called Vriska as she hurled a rock towards him. "Think fast!"

The albino boy wasn't worried. He simply raised his hand and caught the rock mid-flight, as though it was no big deal. The bus stop went silent, as all eyes turned to Karkat. He dropped the rock at his feet and turned around once more. The ordeal hadn't fazed him.

Karkat could practically feel the smirk on the blonde boy's lips as he said his next line, "Your skin is pale white, and you catch rocks when they come at your face. I know what you are."

Vantas turned around attempting to hide the smile on his lips, but failing horribly.

With a sudden demeanor change, he huffed out his next words, "Say it. Out loud."

"You're," he paused, "An albino."

The blonde girl walked forward to join them, "Now what does that have in common with catching rocks?" She extended her hand, "I am Rose Lalonde." She pointed to the still crying girl, "That is Jade Harley." She then pointed at the boy that made Karkat's heart go Doki-doki, “He is my brother, Dave Strider.”

Karkat inwardly cheered. He was right, Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

“And you’ve already met Jade’s brother, John,” she finished

Holy Shit! He was two for two. Bam-Bitches!

Karkat took her hand in his and shook it lightly, as permitted a lady, “It’s very nice to meet you all.”

Rose smiled, almost as though she was surprised to find a boy with edicate. Before anymore comments were made and any conversations were set into depth, the bus arrived at the stop, almost hitting Karkat in the process. He didn’t jump however. The look on his face seemed indifferent, like he didn’t care if he got hit or not. Dave took note of this.

Once on the bus, Karkat slid into a seat near the very back of the bus. He was surprised by the join ment of the four people he was just talking to. Jade and John sat together in front of him, Rose sat across from his seat, and Dave plopped down right next to the crushing teenager.

Dave looked over at Karkat. The albino could feel the blonde boy’s eyes tracing up his outfit and body. Karkat was hoping he liked what he saw, but when the blonde boy reached out and grabbed his wrist, he cringed. Ripping up Karkat’s sleeve, Dave seemed hurt by the various slit marks, though he had never met Karkat before now.

The bus stopped again, and five people got on. One was a boy with an actual mohawk. Then, it was another boy with crazy clown makeup and more facial piercings then Karkat had. Karkat had encountered people like him before. He was a juggalo. Next was a girl with very cropped hair. It had a slight curl in front of her face. she sat down next to Rose and the gave eachother a light kiss. Well then. Next was what appeared to be another couple,a girl covered in various pieces of jewelry and a girl with curly reddish-brown hair. It looked like the ideal shade for Terezi. They group flocked into the back of the bus, where the siblings resided.

The boy with the mohawk sat down diagonally to Karkat and Dave. He scooted over to accommodate the Juggalo. The boy’s mohawk was rather short, and he had a bull piercing.Above his piercing his had a small nose with two large brown eyes, like a bull’s. He was wearing a standard pair of bluejeans and a plain black tee with what appeared to be the Taurus symbol. Over that, was a purple and black jacket that looked like it might have belonged to the boy on his right. The juggalo brandished an over-sized ICP concert tee and black skinny jeans with one large hole in the knee. He was far too tall to not look awkward walking near the other boy. When they idly joined their hands, their relationship was quickly identified.

The girl with the red hair and the girl with the copious amounts of jewelry were another odd pair. The girl was a little short and very curvey. Her face was clear of any marks other than a few freckles across her nose. they made her look even more of an innocent little girl. She was wearing a rust colored polo and a black shirt. underneath, a pair of knee high socks. Her ‘friend’ was jingling with every step she took. She was wearing a neon blue and pink skirt with a pink and black tank top on top of it. Her high-heels echoed with every step she took. The sat down in front of Jade and John.

The juggalo had his eyes glued to Karkat since he sat down. The albino felt the deep purple eyes behind the dyed hair and locked eyes with the boy. The juggalo broke into a loud deep laughter before shoving his hand in front of Dave for the boy to shake.

“Gamzee, motherfucking, Makara,” his voice was deep and husky.

“”Karkat Vantas.”

“Uh... Wow. Your name is... Really cool,” said the boy next to him. His voice was full of stutters and pauses as though he needed some type of reassurance, “I’m Tavros. Tavros Nitram.”

The girl with red hair was fluffing her curls while the other one spoke, “I’m Feferi Pexies! And this, cute little cuttlefish, is Aradia Megido!”

Did she just say “cuttlefish”?

Karkat nodded and repeated his name. Aradia stood and shoved Dave into the seat with Rose and Kanaya to plop down next to Karkat. She was stronger then she looked.

“So, you are one of the new kids that Serket spread so much about,” she said the name with so much malice. “I, as president of student council, have been instructed to welcome you-” she dug around in her bag while pulling out a piece of paper, “Ms. Pyrope and Mr. Ampora. We get to enter the halls early so that I can get the three of you your schedules and show you around.” She flashed an award winning smile. “Can you point out your two friends to me?”

“Um... Sure,” the albino pointed into a crowd of girls at the boy and then at the girl who seemed absorbed into a conversation with Vriska.

“Do you have any means of contacting them now?”

Karkat nods. He pulls out his iPhone with his custom black and red case. He sent a Pesterchum Message to Eridan: carcinoGeneticist began pestering caligusAquarius at 8:15 CG: AMPORA CA: wwhat CG: DO YOU KNOW TEREZI’S PESTERCHUM? CA: wwhy CG: BECAUSE I NEED TO TELL YOU AND HER SOMETHING.

A name was quickly sent back and a group memo was started.

carcinoGeneticist, caligusAquarius, and gallowsCalibrator responded to this memo at 8:17 CA:wwhat is it? CG: THERE’S THIS GIRL GC: 4ND? CG: AND... SHE WANTS TO SHOW US AROUND CA: oh that’s it CG: YEAH, AND TEREZI? GC: Y3S? CG: WHY DO YOU TYPE LIKE THAT? GC: 1T’S C4LL3D L33T. CA: that’s really fuckin dumb GC: 1T 1SN’T 3XTR3M3 L33T GC: 7H15 15 3X7R3M3 L337 CA: that’s just confusin CG: YEAH A LITTLE. CG: DON’T DO THAT. GC: 4NYW4Y, VR1SK4 1S GOING TO SHOW M3 4ROUND CA: that gill wwith the blue hair? CG: THAT REMINDS ME... THERE’S THIS GIRL THAT MAKES THE SAME SHITTY FISH PUNS THAT YOU USE. HER NAME IS FEFERI. CG: and she’s my girlfriend. 0r as she says “gilfriend.” CA: wwho is that? CG: THAT ARADIA GIRL TOOK MY PHONE GC: OOO! DO3S K4RKL3S H4V3 4 G1RL FR13ND? CG: 1) YOU JUST SAW HER TYPE THAT SHE HAD A GIRL FRIEND CG: 2) I DON’T SWING THAT WAY. CA: kar? CG: WHAT CA: are you... CG: A FAG? CG: YES. CG: DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT? CA: not at all. it's just a little surprisin GC: 1 KN3W 1T! CG: HOW DID YOU KNOW IT? GC: 1 SM3LL3D TH3 W4Y YOU W3R3 LOOK1NG 4T TH4T BLOND3 BOY CA: wwhat ”blonde boy” GC: TH3 ON3 TH4T W4S S1TT1NG N3XT TO H1M! CA: wwell, wwell, wwell, kar

carcinoGeneticist has banned caligusAquarius and gallowsCalibrator from responding to the memo

Eridan and Terezi gave each other a knowing glance when they turned and saw the blonde boy. Karkat sent Eridan another message.

carcinoGeneticist began pestering caligusAquarius at 8:26

CG: ARE YOU GETTING A TOUR FROM ONE OF THOSE FUCKING BIMBOS YOU'RE SURROUNDED BY?

CA: hey. Wwatch your fuckin mouth. I don't want to havve to remind you about what happens wwhen you disrespect me.

CG: ...

CA: ...

CG: ...

CA: ...

CG: OKAY. I'M SORRY. BUT, I NEED AN ANSWER. ARADIA IS WAITING.

CA: no, I already havve some vvery lovvely gills showwin me around.

CG: ALRIGHT FINE. WHAT EVER FLOATS YOUR BOAT.

carcinoGeneticist stopped pestering caligusAquarius at 8:30

Karkat turned to Aradia once again, "They are actually set with other people."

She smiled again like it was the outcome she had hoped for, "Perfect! That'll give us a chance to get to know each other better!"

She didn't give him anytime to respond before she hopped out of her seat and sat back down with Feferi.

"So, kitkat, how about I give you a tour as an apology?" Dave whispered to him.

"Sorry Strider. Megido's already giving me one."

"Do you make it a habit to refer to people by their last names?"

"They're just easier for me to remember."

The bus arrived at the three story building before anymore words were said. The school was made of solid red brick with various windows and the words Skaia Academy were in bold letters above a great ledge that shadowed the front of the school grounds. It looked more like a University Campus rather than a High School. He supposed that was why they needed a tour.

Aradia immediately pulled Karkat into the school and up to the front office. He looked at his schedual.

1st Period: AP WORLD HISTORY...LALODE, ROXY

2nd Period: AP GEOLOGY... ENGLISH, JAKE

3rd period: ATHLETICS... STRIDER, DIRK

4th period: AVID... PAINT, MELISSA

5th period: AP ENGLISH... ENGLISH, LANCE

6th period: AP ALGEBRA II... SCRATCH, DEVIN

7th period: ADVANCED ART II... HUSSIE, ANDREW

He got all of the classes he had wanted. Aradia took it apon her self to show Karkat the quickest route from his previous class to his next.

"And, this is art."

"Tha-" the bell cut him off.

Aradia simply nodded. He could thank her in second period. She mentioned she had it with him. With that, he headed off to his first class, World History.


End file.
